1. Technical Field
The present invention relates to water treatment apparatus, more particularly to domestic water treatment cartridges.
2. Background Information
Such products are widely known and are used to improve the taste and odour of domestic water supplies. The cartridge contains a granular treatment medium such as an ionic exchange medium, activated charcoal, minerals and mixtures of these. The treatment medium is retained within the cartridge by grilles provided at the upper and lower ends of the cartridge.
Typically the cartridge sits within an inlet funnel into which tap water is introduced, the tap water then percolating through the cartridge into a collection vessel below. The collection vessel may simply be a jug from which the treated water is dispensed or, as proposed more recently, it may actually be a water heating vessel such as a kettle or the like. Such a proposal is contained in the Applicant's International Patent Application WO 01147399.
The present invention seeks to provide a water treatment cartridge which can be used in either of the above contexts.
In many applications, treated water in its collection vessel may be stored in a refrigerator prior to dispensing. This has led to the collection vessels tending to be elongate having a major and minor axis in plan view, with a handle and pouring spout arranged on the major axis. At the same time, it is desirable, particularly in water heaters, to reduce the overall height of the cartridge to reduce the possibility of the cartridge coming into contact with the heated water either when standing or pouring, and also to keep appliances more compact for stability purposes.